


The Demifiend Reads Call Of The Wild

by JotTheDragonScribe



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Genre: Gen, More beastly demifiend?, More beastly pseudofiends as well, More demonic demifiend, Nocturne AU, Vermin Eating, light body horror, transformations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:35:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26846770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JotTheDragonScribe/pseuds/JotTheDragonScribe
Summary: And in some way or the other, ends up living it.An alternate path the Demifiend could've taken, one where maybe he *does* like the demon life better with friends.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	1. Prologue - Where they actually read Call Of The Wild by Jack London

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> its a good book

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> call of the wild wasnt a mandatory reading in my country, so i read it for the first time about 3 years ago. and then read it 7 more times before i had to give the book back to the library
> 
> so as you may guess, i don't have the book on hand, so all of this is purely what i remember from it
> 
> but dont worry, despite the title, this is the only time the book comes up

High school mandated reading had been... Varied to say the least.

To dull poetry by stuck up men, to the odd classics who would make one wonder, without fail, how such a piece of literary garbage ever got famous, to short stories by anonymous authors that would gnaw at your brain for years to come, keeping you up at night better than a speedmetal drummer neighbour.

This one, Naoki wasn't sure where he would place it.

"I don't get it", announced Isamu one day, surprising no one. "Why'd he run away? He had a good life with his owner, right?”

Chiaki lifted her eyes for a second, half dead stare going through Naoki and put her own copy of the book down, sighing in a long-suffering manner. "His owner was _killed_. Do you even pay attention at all?"

Isamu's eyebrows shot up in a nearly comical fashion. "Damn, I see..." Isamu leaned back further on his chair, arms behind his head. Chiaki and Naoki traded a look, like famished tigers keeping each other in check as hordes of tourists came up to take souvenir photos of them.

Don't push him. It's not worth it. That was the unspoken agreement, right then and there.

"Couldn't be me, to be honest", Isamu yawned, balancing forward to set the two front legs of his chair back on the ground. Opportunity missed. "I like the civilized life too much" His eyes closed as he laid his head on the table, on which the snacks meant for their study session were laid upon. They suddenly shot open. "Not that I'm not, like, a total alpha male! I'd crush it in the wilds, haha!” Isamu frantically corrected, fixing the hat on top of his head.

Chiaki rolled her eyes in exasperation once more. She flicked the hat off his head, opening her book again. "Who, exactly, are you trying to impress? There's just me and Naoki here, you know?”

Naoki thought to himself, reading to himself the last paragraph in the book. Nary but emptiness followed in the page, leaving the reader to wonder what life that dog would have lead in the unforgiving woods of Deep Northern America. Barely the thought of all that snow was enough to send shivers down the teen's spine.

"What about you, Chiaki?” asked Naoki, finally putting down the book. "What do you think about a life like the one Buck chose to lead?”

Chiaki crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. She stared down at her carpet in deep thought.

"I... Don't know. I think it's too brutal", she curled a strand of hair behind her ear, "I know that's just how nature is, but the things that poor dog goes through..."

"Yeah, not to mention how lonely he must've felt. It wasn't like he made a pack of dogs, to keep him company... I couldn't live without my girls, man!” Isamu commented, finally recovered from Chiaki's bitter words.

The girl opened and closed her mouth several times, weighing whether to mock his lack of "girls" or to insult his lack of attention even further.

To change things up, Chiaki returned to the book to see if Buck did in fact form a pack or not.

Naoki held the closed book against his chin.

A harsh environment without mercy... A life of complete solitude... Having left everything behind...

Could he even survive such a situation?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> answer is yes


	2. Life in the Vortex World 1; These Claws Are Made For Walking

For a long time, Naoki doesn't try looking at himself. It helps that the vast majority of mirrors got blown to smithereens. The last one he saw wasn't really a _mirror_ , just the glass on some cabinet's door, but _goodness gracious_.

The shock of seeing himself for the first time nearly sent him stumbling backwards, much to his Pixie's amusement. Yeah, sure, he saw a bit of himself when he woke up. He saw the tattoos and reacted to them like he'd passed out during a party and his friends had drawn on him with markers. He felt the horn on the back of his head and immediately stopped, because touching it made the rest of his body feel needles and pins.

It had been so much in such a short amount of time that the boy hadn't processed it yet, to the point where he just absorbed the information completely. World has ended? Okay. Everyone is dead except for a select few? Alright. He has weird glowing tattoos and a horn on the back of his head, which he uses to communicate with the demons that have now infested the world, which he can also beat up? Roger that.

Finally seeing his reflection was what finally flicked the switch in his brain.

So Naoki crumbled into a mental breakdown-y mess of expletives and panicking before dusting himself off and carrying on his way.

Because demons or not, the end of the world was always better than having school.

Comparison fortitude or not, Naoki, or... Err, guess they call him Demifiend, now? Still avoids reflective surfaces. He doesn't want to despair again, not in front of his leech- ahem, demons, who could turn on him in a second if they so decided he wasn't fit to control them anymore.

Thus, Demifiend greatly enjoys the quiet time he has away from them.

In order to avoid losing his mind, like he saw in those prison movies, Hitoshura (that's another name they call him) has been keeping time the best he can with a wristwatch he found in the rubble. Since demons don't exactly have schedules, Hitoshura uses it to know when it would've been nighttime and, most important of all, when it should've been lunchtime.

It's not like he needs to _sleep_ or, even less, _eat_ , but he feels like those two things are his Wilson in these post-apocalyptic shenanigans.

So when the old thing jingles for nighttime (hell yeah it also had alarms), Hitoshura turns to his demons with the manliest snarl he can muster and the deepest voice his lungs will allow and growls.

"Leave. I train alone for now. Come back when I howl for you".

Not like they needed much encouragement, the mix-and-match squad of demons all go their separate directions and leave him alone.

Perfect.

Once he's sure they're gone-gone, he scurries away in search of the nearest vertical surface that is deep enough, digs himself a burrow and curls up for a nap inside after blocking the entrance back up with the rubble.

It's a bit of a Rabbit Thing to do, he'll admit it, but he's grown to like his temporary, cramped, usually rocky beds. Yes, the perfect room for the catching of the z’s.

Up until some of his demons found him.

Thank the magatamas it was Pixie, Jack Frost and Mothman, demons he kept for the cute factor rather than the usefulness in combat.

"I like your training style!” giggled Pixie, fluttering inside of the tunnel. Which was barely enough for Demifiend on his own, so it was like being stuck in a barrel with a fly the size of your fist.

The small hairs on his spine rising in fear, Hitoshura rolled into a crouch, back pressed to the end of his cave, hands spread out in front of him.

Pixie was closest to him, most likely to unleash an attack first. Her specialty wasn't exactly hard hitting moves, but the closed space restricted the boy's movement and granted her the advantage. Jack Frost was still at the entrance, as was Mothman, who had gotten his large head stuck in the small hole, barely enough for Demifiend to crawl through. Jack Frost was trying, in vain, to either push him out or pull him in. Neither option seemed very doable.

This cut off any escape route, which Hitoshura wasn't expecting to do either way. The two demons had reasonable attacks, even if nothing compared to the others. They could pose a more serious threat.

As he thought of his next move, who to target first and what attack to use, his markings glowing at old-man's-phone levels of brightness, Pixie stopped in mid-air and fluttered closer to poke his nose.

Hitoshura yelped in surprise, placing his hands in front of his face instinctually to block any further attacks. Pixie giggled again.

"Calm down, you nervous boy! We don't want to attack you!" she reassured, gently taking one of Hitoshura's hands (barely smaller than her) and holding it between her own, "You're not as squishy anymore, you know! We couldn't stand a chance!”

Jack Frost seemed offended by that comment, letting go of Mothman's antennae.

"Hey-ho!! I could take heem-ho!", the little demon bragged, balling his hands into fist and throwing a few punches to the air. Pixie shushed him.

"We were curious what you were doing by yourself for so many hours and decided to follow your footprints. You have pretty weird feet, you know,” Pixie fluttered back to the entrance, encouraging him to follow her, "and you snore like a Nue!”

Demifiend raised one eyebrow, intrigued, crawling to the entrance of the tunnel. Sure, demons might not have seen shoes before, but how weird could they be?

They managed to push Mothman out, who staggered backwards until he fell on his rear, legs spread out. Demifiend moved to the very entrance, perched on the edge of the tunnel, looking out on the vast expanse of ground before him.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. In the soft sandy ground, there were marked three sets of footprints.

Pixie, obviously, had none.

Jack Frost's were just like the underside of his boots.

Mothman's, long and with three little claws at the end.

But older than all of those above, there were what he assumed were his footprints.

Just like his sneakers, but with two large curved claws at the front and one smaller one on the inside of each foot.

Those... Those couldn't be his, right? He didn't have claws, he... He just- had his shoes! He never took those of, and even if he did, he should just have normal human feet!

In a wary daze, Hitoshura sat back, legs spread out in front of him.

And it was true.

Two large, black claws had pierced the front of his shoes, on each foot, as had one smaller claw on the inside.

How could he have never noticed? Surely he could feel them, like he felt his toes- oh. Oh, there... There they were. Still inside of his shoe, the remaining two claws, scraping at the front.

Naoki breathed deeply, struggling to keep his cool and not show his fear in front of his demons. He clenched his fist and held it against his throat, as if in a way to control his breathing. What the hell was this? He thought the changes stopped with the- the horn and the tattoos and whatnot. He didn't know they would continue! What the hell was that?!

What was happening to him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter is done as well, im just reviewing them before posting


	3. Life in The Vortex World 2; Shake your tail feather, eat your gods

Turns out Naoki had lost all awareness of changes that went down in his body, probably due to the stress of having his guard up 24/7. Turns out as well that his demons were _useless_ in pointing them out for him.

Maybe this was normal for them? Demons evolved and changed skills all the time, they probably thought this was normal for fiends like him.

So, they didn't bat an eye when the Demifiend spent half of the day going around on all fours, when two more spikes grew along his spine, when two fangs started jutting out of his mouth...

Or when his tail started growing.

The one thing Naoki missed the most was showers. He had no idea how many days, weeks or months would've passed in the normal world, but he knew he _reeked_ of sweat. He was starting to attract demons just with his stench.

So picture his joy when he found the remains of a public pool _with_ working showers. His luck stat? Through the roof.

A lot of the changes that no one bothered to tell him about were discovered during that shower. The worst one?

"Hee, I like your tail, ho! Very cute, heeho!", commented Jack Frost in passing as he and Mothman moved pool noodles around with mischievous intent.

Naoki would've complained about having some privacy, he would have complained about being called a ho, but all that came to his mind was...

"Huh?"

In shock, his hand flew to his lower back, slapping his own ass (ow) and confirming what he dreaded.

His spine continued into a small, thin tail, no longer than his hand. He tried and, much to his dismay, he discovered he could wag it and move it dexterously.

Naoki faced the wall again, hand on the small ceramic tiles, and water continuously falling on his head at that ridiculous pressure that every public shower was set to.

This was... A Problem.

Fangs? Claws? More horns? That's fine. That's just keratin, maybe enamel. Naoki wasn't even sure what those two things were, aside from the fact his nails and teeth had them.

But a tail? A tail?!

That's bone. That's an extension of his spine. That's meat, and blood, and nerves, muscles, and skin and who knows what else grew without him noticing.

The fiend wasn't even sure what upset him the most. The fact he was so oblivious that he didn't notice such a drastic change or the fact that his changes were starting to get _drastic._

First, a tail. What next? Wings? More eyes? A proboscis? Naoki shivered at the thought, placing his hands over his mouth as if to block said proboscis from emerging.

The thoughts raced to his head as he shut the water off and paced over to the mirrors over the two sinks, cracked and covered in dirt.

Something was causing this... This demonic puberty thing. He thought it would've stopped at the tattoos, then maybe at the claws, then at the fangs, and kept thinking it was gonna stop when something new came up but it never did.

So he had to take action. Stop whatever hormones were making him worthy of being a secondary actor in one of those medieval paintings of hell.

He leaned over the sink, staring into those glowing pupils of his that _still_ gave him chills.

Was it the fighting? It wasn't like he could avoid it. In the first place, it wasn't he who started it most of the time! Demons were either brave, reckless, or dumb enough to charge in to attack him even after watching him obliterate the handful of demons that came before them!

No, this went deeper. There were times when nothing would change for weeks at a time, so what could it be?

Naoki lifted the side of his lip to take a good look at the fangs protruding out of his mouth. His normal canines were still there, just pushed to the side by the unwieldly big new teeth. These fangs weren't curved normally; they had a sudden, square angle, like a boomerang. Really, he couldn't even bite properly with these things! Might as well call 'em tusks!

The shape of them reminded him of something else, though. Brow furrowed, still inspecting his tusks, the Demifiend tried to think of where he had seen it before... Was it some demon?

With his mouth open, Naoki could see some sort of creature try to crawl back up his throat. A long, segmented worm like parasite, with two... Pincers? Fangs? On the side of its mouth.

Aha! Thought demifiend, jolting with surprise (and also disgust at seeing what his worms got up to when he wasn't looking), shoving his hand inside his mouth to grab the parasite.

A magatama, the source of his power. He kept them in a jar tied to his hip by a very dedicated piece of thin rope and vase-transporting-knot skills that Chiaki told him he'd never need. Who's laughing NOW!

This one, he was forgetting its name, he just swallowed to learn a skill that came with levelling up. It wasn't like its resistances would help him right now...

Naoki looked back up at the mirror, touching the tip of his tusks with his fingers, gripping the squirming magatama in his other hand. The tusks grew... Last week, or so. He ate this magatama specifically... Also last week, or so.

Something clicking in his brain, the demifiend turned the parasite around to look at its tail.

And to discover it was ridiculous. It was thinner than the rest of its body! It looked like someone stuck a toothpick in it!

Most of the time, you couldn't tell where a worm's body ended and the tail began, because, well, that's how it was meant to be. But this was the complete opposite, and completely ridiculous!

After verbally abusing the magatama and throwing it back in his gullet, Hitoshura touched his tail once more. _Oh no_. Oh NO. Was he going to have a stupid toothpick tail, too?!

He had to stop using the magatama.

Okay, no. He just shot down that idea immediately.

Sure the attacks stuck with him when he changed Demonic Tapeworms, but that didn't mean they'd stick around if he went cold turkey on them.

Maybe it was changing the magatamas that caused this? He recalled switching to this one specifically a week ago, but he must have switched temporarily during it...

Probably? Very likely? Again, this worm's resistances weren't exactly helpful right now. The odds of him switching to another one just to absorb an attack he knew demons were gonna use in a certain area, were pretty big.

So, what he had to do was not switch magatamas anymore!

Yeah, veto that as well. He wanted the one skill, nothing more. He wasn't going to like with that toothpick-ass tapeworm on his stomach for the rest of his life.

With a deep, gurgling sigh, result of a throat scratched by rebellious magatama, he hangs his head hands still on either side of the sink.

There really is no stopping this monster puberty of his.

A flutter of wings reaches his ears and he feels a really faint weight land on his still-wet shoulders.

"What's got you so down? Just discovered the tail?” Pixie asked, crouching down to speak directly into his ear.

Naoki sullenly nodded.

The demon loudly and dramatically sighed, getting up again and leaning against his head with one elbow.

"You're always grumpy about these things!” Pixie grumbled, flicking the side of his head, "It doesn't hurt, right? And even if it looks dumb, no one's gonna call you out on it when you eat Onis for breakfast!”

Naoki lifted his head again to look at his monstrous reflection, staring back at him. He couldn't help but be repulsed; not just of the fangs, or the eyes, or the drool dripping down his mouth, but because of how _different_ he looked. Was the man in the mirror still Naoki? They called him "Demifiend" or "Hitoshura"... Was that all he was now?

"You're scared you're no longer human", Pixie said, snapping her finger in realization.

Hit the nail on the head.

"I know, I know... It's just a p-"

"Oh, no no no,” Pixie chuckled, patting the side of his head, "You're absolutely not human anymore. Nuh-huh"

She fluttered around him, crossing her arms and making an indecisive gesture.

"You kinda have the shape, and you could sorrrtaaa sound like one, and maybe sometimes you act a lil' bit like one", Pixie pointed out, tapping the side of her head, "But that's it"

Naoki's face dropped, as did his heart, right down to pit of his stomach.

"Aw, c'mon! No need to be like that", chuckled Pixie, once more patting his head, "Why be sad? There's nothing you can do about it!" She gave him a half-pitying smile. "You certainly didn't think normal humans take showers with their shorts on, right...?"

Naoki sighed once more, deep and despairing. Barely on the verge of tears, too, thinking about the cushy life he had once lived and his normal-looking past self who didn't have claws, fangs, horns or a tail.

But then a thought crossed his brain. A revolutionary thought.

There was something he could do about it, actually. He knew the big guys who were calling the shots. He knew of the reasons and the Mantra and how they were all plotting to restart the world in their image.

Naoki felt a sudden wave of smugness overcome him, and his sharp-toothed grin practically split his face when he slammed down his fist on the edge of the sink. Pixie fluttered back, startled. Jack and Mothman peeked in from the side, wondering what just happened.

"I **can** do something about it", the demifiend snarled, staring back at the glowing yellow eyes of his reflection, "I can beat the shit out of the jackasses pulling the shots..."

The demifiend curled his claws around the edges of the sink, effortlessly tearing through the weathered ceramic, and tilted his head to look over his shoulder at Pixie.

"And _I_ can decide how the world's gonna be reborn."

Decide who's human or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These were the three that I had ready! So expect the others to take longer to be posted.


	4. Isamu's chapter: Lonely, Shirtless and Angry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blood like boiling drool  
> rolls off your maw  
> tell me, wretched creature  
> how deep will you claw?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one contains both violence and then uhh hugging and friendly wrestling. not right after each other, obviously. if either of those is not your cup of tea well you've been warned
> 
> shout at me if it has any more mistakes, im tired and can't read it again

Isamu's the easiest to find. The idiot shoved himself in the Amala Network, that hellish labyrinth of specters and high walls, and now couldn't get out.  
Ah, what a lovely image, it made Hitoshura chuckle.

The half-demon was riding the waves of self-assuredness that the confidence in his power brought him. Specters would charge at his party time and time again and he, singlehandedly, would defeat all of them with a snap of his fingers. His demons nearly looked impressed, though it was harder to tell with ones like Daisoujo.

Were his screeches more filled with pride over his master's power or...?

They find Isamu in another of those empty rooms, this time not guarded by any specters of any kind.  
Just Isamu, sitting down on the floor, facing away from them.

He didn't seem to notice right away, perhaps deeply lost in thought. The demifiend took this chance to see if anything was different about the other boy... Just to check if it was normal for fiends to change. _Sure_ , they were different kinds of fiends (Naoki could feel it deep within him) , but it still applied, right.

Those horrendous Amala Souls covered every inch of his skin, distending into vaguely face shapes. The usual, same as last time. But now he also had a tail! Hah! Sucks to be you!

This one thin, much like the demifiend's, but long and with a lock of fur at the end, like a bull or a lion.

The sight of it was so laughably pitiable that the demifiend could not help but let out a boisterous cackle.

The sharp, aggressive sound woke Isamu from his introspections with a start. The teen struggled to get on his feet, only to lose all strength in his legs and fall on his knees. He cursed to himself in gargled snarls, before attempting again and again the same feat, only to fail with every attempt.

Demifiend crossed his arms, tapping the side of his elbow with his sharp claws. He observed his former friend as he struck at the ground with his fists in frustration. Vein-like structures glowed a dull red under his skin, much alike his own but far less visible. For whatever similarities they shared, it was plainly obvious which one was the true fiend and which was simply... A pseudo-fiend.

The false fiend raised his head to glare at the other, teeth in full display. Perhaps he intended to say something, but all that came out were growled croaks and choked yips.

Isamu closed his eyes once more in frustration, coughing forcefully and massaging his throat with his hands. Nothing he did made him speak actual words.

From this, the demifiend deduced with much amusement that Isamu could not stand up nor speak. It was as if his former friend were more dog than man, or fiend, now. The time he had spent in that hellish, mind-numbing labyrinth certainly couldn't have done him any favours.

The pseudofiend certainly did not appreciate the toothy, smug grin plastered on the other's face, once again displaying all of his teeth while the fur on his tail blistered in anger.

Proper human speech or not, it was easy to understand what he snarled next.

'Leave me alone. Get out'

But the demifiend couldn't just do that. The reason of Musubi... It wasn't exactly what he wanted. He considered it the decisions of an immature idiot having a temper tantrum over _not being special._ So, he had to defeat Isamu.

Hitoshura explained this succinctly, stepping closer to his opponent. His tattoos glowed blue-green in anticipation and he showed Isamu his teeth, sharper and bigger, in kind.

The pseudofiend shuffled back on all fours, snarling like a pathetic stray dog. The demifiend thought to recognize the glint of fear in his eyes, but there was only resent. Anger, towards him. Envy, perhaps, which made his chest fill with pride.

He accepted envy, why, it was but only reasonable such a second-grade demon such as Isamu would feel envy towards him. They were leagues apart in power.

Now, anger? Anger was an emotion reserved for those who could defend it with their fists. Anger was reserved for those who could act on it, old friend. Not a phony of a fiend such as yourself.

Boastful, the demifiend made a show of closing his eyes and turning his back on the other, to offend him further. He opened his maws and let out a prolonged, false yawn, raising his hand as if to politely cover his mouth.

His demons seemed impressed, to say the least. They nodded and chuckled among themselves, no doubt enjoying their master's display of superiority. Hitoshura, much like a regular teenage boy trying to impress his peers with bullying, felt relief over earning some respect with the motley crew of demons he had contracts with.

A crystal of ice whirred past his head, barely scratching his ear, to shatter against the wall of the chamber.

The demons stilled.

Bufudyne.

A powerful ice attack. Not that it would've done much damage to the demifiend as was, but powerful nonetheless.

Slowly, Hitoshura stepped to face Isamu once more.

The pseudofiend stood on all fours, a stance meant to move easily and react as quickly as possible. He breathed heavily, clouds coming out of his mouth, his chest heaving with every breath.

Fine. War was it then? A fight. The wimpy little runt who so often barked that he wanted to be left alone now wanted to fight. Do you really expect to drive me out with your fists? Thought the demifiend, his pace growing in speed with ever step he took.

In manner much in the nature of a fiend, Hitoshura thought to defeat the other at which he lacked the most skills: strength. They'd clash, and he'd definitely come out victorious, for he had braved whatever the Vortex World threw at him and Isamu had holed himself up in the Amala network.

The pseudofiend was reluctant; he could read the other's dishonorable intentions like a book. But a fiend is proud and attacks before it asks, so Isamu charged to meet him as well, running enough that he managed to stay in two legs.

At once, they slammed against each other with an impact nothing short of painful. The instant their right shoulders connected, Isamu could tell he was fighting an uphill battle. A battle that would take a miracle for him to win.

The pain made the pseudofiend flinch, made him bite back any other reaction that would make the other, unaffected fiend, ever more deeply aware of the gulf between their powers. The tattooed fiend did not move, did not even look as if he was putting half the effort in standing his ground as Isamu was.

But a fiend is ever proud, to a fault. A fiend never yields until death. So Isamu gritted his teeth, swallowed the knot of pain in his throat, and pushed with all of his strength even if it was useless.

Snarling and foaming at the mouth, Isamu cursing against the former friend that had become so much greater than him in every way, Hitoshura to intimidate the weaker fiend, the two pushed against each other to test their strength, like mountain goats or... Perhaps, amateur sumo-wrestlers without any training.

The pseudofiend clearly struggled, while the demifiend stood his ground like a wall. Trembling with exertion, Isamu leaned his entire weight on the other half-demon, his feet sliding against the floor with every useless step he took. His claws, thin and scythe like, scraped on the floor like nails on chalkboard. Weak, they'd lift off the skin, leaving trails of blood behind, making Isamu's suffering ever worse.

Tired of this one-sided reverse tug of war, the scrapping of his opponent's claws getting on his nerves, Hitoshura smirked and delivered a swift, sharp jab to the pseudofiend's stomach, making him double over in pain.

The pseudofiend croaked, coughing out droplets of bile that had shot up his gullet with the sudden strike, arms covering his stomach from further pain. The demifiend took this opportunity to shove the much-battered Isamu to the ground, whose back took the full brunt of the impact with a worrying crunch.

The weaker fiend finally howled in pain, hands desperately trying to reach the epicenter of pain, such a bone-chilling noise that snapped Naoki from his power-fueled delusions of grandeur.

Oh, _god_! What the hell was he doing?! That could've killed Isamu! He couldn't kill him, no matter how annoying he'd been before the Conception! He was still human; he had to cling to that! He wasn’t a demon, he wasn’t becoming a demon, he wasn’t able to kill other people-

Naoki's moment of panicked regret allowed Isamu to recover and shuffle-hop back on all fours, never turning his back on his opponent. There was a crease of doubt on his brow as he saw that the other fiend hesitated to take advantage of his prone state, a crease that Naoki definitely noticed.

"Isamu", he tried to call, raising one hand to reach out to his former friend, but another crystal of ice shoved itself inside of his open mouth.

Just like that, his moment of soberiety, of regained humanity, faded away. His teeth scrapped on the melting crystal, water pooling between his lower lip and his chin before dropping off the side of his jaw. The sound of the droplets hitting the floor was nearly audible in the hushed, dreadful silence that had set in, barely muffled by Isamu's ragged breaths.

Hitoshura's unfocused eyes suddenly lasered in on pseudofiend with such malice that he could not help but look away, much like a hound avoids a persistent stare.

With minimum force, the demifiend crushed the crystal to grains and kept chewing on them until there was nary but water left of that timely attempt at an attack. The sound made the pseudofiend retreat further, suddenly meeting his regrets head on.

The demifiend paused, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

Focus.

The other demons all looked on, perplexed at the sudden moment of meditation.

Gather the light in your palm

When the demifiend's right hand started glowing, his crew of demons all moved back. The pseudofiend furrowed his brow, determined to face the attack head on to salvage a shred of his pride.

destroy your enemies.

Opening his eyes, pupils so small they were barely visible, demifiend raised his glowing hand, steadying it with his other.

Divine Shot. Not quite his most powerful attack, but one other ought to respect.

And Isamu definetely needed some lessons in respect.

The pseudofiend, in perhaps instinct, realized instantly the nature of the attack and the fact that nothing of him would survive it.

Sacrificing whatever he had of pride and dignity, Isamu fell on his back, in a pose of submission. A last ditch effort to survive.

The pseudofiend yelped and cried loudly, hailing the demifiend as the true master of demons and prostrating himself as much as he managed to.

The demifiend's light faded, his arm lowered. A smirk crept on his face as he walked closer to relish in the self-humiliation of his opponent.

When he got close enough, hands on his hips in awe of a job well done, Isamu jumped at him.

To be met with the other's punch to his nose.

Oh Isamu, dearest old pal. You really are as stupid to believe I'd fall for the same trick twice?

So thought the demifiend to himself, kneeling to make sure he hadn't actually killed the other with his punch.

By the pseudofiend's ragged breaths and bubbling drool in his throat, he was merely passed out.

Naoki let his grin fade, shaking his head and running his hand through his hair.

With every fight, he found himself less in control of his actions, less aware of his surroundings. Most days were a dizzying instinctual haze, where he behaved as more fiend than human.

It made him sick. He was a good person, he liked to believe so! By whatever god was controlling things right now (Lucifer?) he sure tried to cling to that like a flea to a dog. It was the one thing giving him hope.

The apocalypse can't change me, he repeated to himself like a mantra, even when facing the unconscious body of his friend which he had just violently beaten up.

He had days. Bad days.

Maybe it was the same with Isamu over here, so thought hopefully. Maybe this was a particularly rotten day and he could get his friend back to his old self.

Yeah! That ridiculous notion sure seemed feasible right about now, thought Naoki, and decided to drag Isamu's unconscious body with him.

"An old friend", he sneered in his manliest voice to his demons, who looked at him like he was a maniac, "We still have some businesses to settle, so I'll place him someplace easier to reach"

He punctuated his sentence with a sinister cackle. Daisoujo joined in, but the others simple stared, slightly off-put by their master's statement.

Half the way to his snooze den, right after parting with his battling demons, Isamu woke up.

In a very cranky mood.

The two fiends snarled and wrestled each other until Naoki, in what was not his best moment of problem-solving genius, managed to take Isamu's belt and tie their pants together through two belt loops each.

The pseudofiend even ceased his thrashing around to stare, furiously inquisitive, at the half-assed attempt at a belt-loop leash.

He made a face at Naoki.

Naoki scoffed and thoroughly explained how he was an idiot with the disposition of a needy toddler that made a tantrum he had into a whole damn reason.

Isamu yowled in offense, but Naoki made a gesture for him to be quiet. He hadn't finished.

So Naoki further explained his very detailed plan:

He was going to drag Isamu around until he stopped feeling so angrily lonely (or whatever mushed up word of the two existed) and returned to being a normal person, for Lucifer's sake.

Isamu raised an eyebrow at "normal person" and scoffed.

Yes, normal person, Naoki continued, we may look like demons but we don't have to act like ones.

But rest assured, because you try another stunt and I'll decided to pay you in the same coin and shove a divine shot down your throat, Naoki reminded Isamu, before pulling on the belt and forcing the fiend to walk alongside him.

For some time, such was their arrangement.

Not that it wasn't hard to have to drag dead weight in the form of a moody pseudofiend around at the distance of half a belt, but eventually Naoki found some longer rope.

Heck, at one point Isamu just decided following the demifiend around was good for a source of entertainment, food and safety. If he could show off with a nicely placed Bufudyne, or Agidyne or perhaps even Zandyne from behind the front lines, well that was just an added bonus.

He quickly found out he liked sleeping, as well. Not something he ever remembered to do in the Amala Network, but damn did Naoki have good ideas sometimes.

He stayed outside the demifiend's den the whole time, of course. He had a sense of pride after all.

Even if he was exposed to the elements, and the demons, and whatever else could be out there.

\---

Naoki woke from one his "hey it's new kagutsuchi" naps with a start and an odd shape at the entrance of his den tapping on his foot.

High-strung, as one would be in his situation, the Demifiend immediately sat up, snarling with all the air in his lungs.

Interrupted only by a soft kick to the back of his head, delivered express by Mothman.

"Friend be quiet! Mothman sleep!” the fluffy demon complained, rolling over to settle again to sleep.

Naoki looked back at his demons like they were mad.

"What? Moth boy’s right", Pixie yawned from her spot in the crook of his neck, "That's the guy you dragged here the other day, and he's just asking to come cuddle with you."

Isamu let out a very flustered and offended croaked yelped, bringing his hands to cover his face.

"You are?” lazily asked Naoki, the sleep now returning to him.

"Wait, you are?!” Naoki repeated, the situation finally hitting him.

This was Isamu, asking. Isamu. Who said he only touched cute girls and always stood at a ridiculous distance from him and Chiaki. No-Contact Isamu. Isamu, who never once even verbally reassured Naoki of their friendship. Really, Naoki just called Isamu a friend because calling him an "acquaintance" took too many syllables.

At the demifiend's incredulous tone, the pseudofiend retreated with a flustered chatter. Never mind, or something of the sort.

However, Naoki dragged him back inside and laid back down, holding his head in his arms in a rather odd display of affection.

"If you really wanna be a demon", the demifiend yawned once more, laying his cheek on top if the other's head, closing his eyes, "you can't be self-conscious, dude"

Now, Isamu would've thrashed away. Of course. Of course.

But he was tired as well, he reasoned, and he didn't want to start another fight with Naoki.

"Say, Isamu"

The pseudofiend lifted his head, yawning. He blinked away from his eyes and gazed towards the demifiend, rooting through the murky waters of a lake in search of remainders of the old world.

"You think my tail fits me?"

The pseudofiend snorted at that, shaking his head.

"Not as much as the spikes along your back"

Both stilled.

The demifiend looked over his shoulder at his friend.

Isamu slowly sat up, bringing his hands up to his throat.

"...Aaaah...", he spoke in varying tones, testing. "AaaaAaaAh?"

Isamu swallowed dryly.

"He... Hello? Hiii? I... I can speak", Isamu said, hands on either side of his head, face lighting up, "I can speak!"

The demifiend, every bit as happy as his friend, waded through the shallow waters to affectionately tackle the pseudofiend who'd been waiting for him at the shore.

The two fiends laughed in triumph, lovingly shoving each other around as they play-wrestled.

"Isamuuuu! You can talk!"

"I can! I can! Naoki, I can talk!"

Naoki shuffled away on all fours, as the other fiend fixed the hat on his head.

"And you got more hands, dude!"

Isamu raised his eyebrows, looking back the fiend and then down to his torso. Two small, vestigial arms came out of his torso, barely twitching when he tried to move them.

"Yeah, and I got lines like you!", Isamu commented, running a finger along one of the many concentric sets of circles that had formed on his skin.

"Nah dude, mine are just markings! Yours are like", Naoki gestured with his hands, moving closer to the other, "Indentions!"

The two teens looked at each other before erupting again into carefree laughter.

"Man, this is weird as _shit_ , right?!"

"It is! What the hell is going on with us?!"

Cackling, Isamu tackled Naoki back to the ground, and the demifiend retaliated by trapping the other's head under his arm and lightly punching his back.

Isamu kicked with his feet, rolling over the other's arm and landing on his back as well.

Their laughter continued, as Naoki's demons looked on towards the pair in confusion.

"Bro, imagine what Chiaki looks like", Isamu commented, chuckling to himself.

Naoki chuckled in kind, but eventually grinned slyly.

"We can go check, you know", he said, letting go of Isamu's head and rolling into a crouch.

The pseudofiend froze, his expression fearful.

"...Naoki, you haven't heard? They say she tortures demons for fun"

The demifiend snorted, shrugging off the warning.

"So? Demons torture other demons for fun, and I defeat those all the time", Naoki said, his pointed tail moving from side to side at the excitement of a potential fight, "And with your spells, we're double unstopabble"

Isamu kept his gaze on his friend for a while, before giving in with a shake of his head.

"Fine,", the pseudofiend spoke, rolling to a four-legged sitting position as well, "But only because of the compliment"

"Wouldn't have it any other way, buddy"


End file.
